


Kindling

by Memefricker69



Category: Ultraman Zero - Fandom, ウルトラシリーズ | Ultra Series
Genre: Alien Biology, Angst, Baby!Glen, Body Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Zero is a VERY bad babysitter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7912831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Memefricker69/pseuds/Memefricker69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Glenfire's species were like phoenixes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kindling

“…And then the Commander says “I’m sorry, I guess I got a little too _HORNY_!”

“HA. HA. HA.” Glenfire responds with utmost sarcasm, “Your jokes suck ass.”

“Well excuuuu-u-u-use me, Mr. Comedy Expert!” Zero’s face scrunches up in indignation.

“Keep going.” Glen mumbles into his shoulder. Zero gladly obliges.

Five more terrible jokes later Glenfire’s arms, wound loosely around Zero’s neck, tighten their grip ever so slightly. The heels of his feet dig into his sides.

“I swear, sooner or later one of those will drive me over the edge and I’m gonna KILL YOU!” Glen hisses.

“Now THAT’s a funny joke!” Zero snorts.

“Choke on an entire dick.”

“Woah there bucko. I don’t think now’s the right time. Or place, for that matter.”

“Fuck you.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Taking advantage of his position, Glen punches Zero in the face.

Zero’s vision goes cloudy.

Not because Glen’s punch has dazed him.

On the contrary, it felt hardly stronger than a pat on the head.

And everybody knows Glenfire never EVER throws half-assed punches. Hell, not even fistbumps are an exception. Zero had learned that the hard way.

To think that this sloppy, limp punch that barely even had any strength behind it… Was everything Glen had…

Shit.

This was so wrong.

Glen was supposed to be the one with the most brute strength on the team, dammit! To this day, Zero had never managed to beat him at arm wrestling, and the only match that had not ended in his loss was declared a draw because their elbows simultaneously snapped!

For Glen’s magnificent strength, his greatest pride and joy, to be reduced to this…It was just way too cruel!

And he was naïve enough to think that distracting himself and Glen with shitty jokes would somehow make this situation easier…

“Why so glum, chum?” Glen mutters, noticing that Zero had gone uncharacteristically silent. With every passing minute the fire elemental’s loud, brash voice becomes ever so slightly quieter. Searing agony trickles in viscous rivulets down Zero’s back. His every step sends droplets of it extinguishing against the icy ground with a sorrowful hiss. Glen’s Fire Core, its surface split in half by an ugly, jagged crack, is only barely lukewarm against Zero’s skin.

“I’m getting kinda bored. Mind telling more of those awful jokes of yours?”

Gritting his teeth, Zero viciously rubs his eyes with his fist. He’s so glad Glen can’t see it. Can’t afford to let the morale drop even further.

“Alrighty then,” it’s taking everything he has to keep his voice from cracking, “So, a Magma, a Guts, and a Baltan walk into a bar…”

“Hey dude,” Glen mumbles, face smooshed against Zero’s neck, “Ya mind uh…Raising the volume a little bit?”

“S-sure pal. A MAGMA, A GUTS, AND A BALTAN WALK INTO A BAR…”

“Huh? I didn’t quite get that!”

“Glen…Buddy…I’m already yelling as loud as I can…” Zero sinks his teeth into his knuckles in a last ditch attempt to keep the sobs from slipping out.

“Wha? Did you say something?”

“Glen…” Zero has switched to telepathy now, “First your sight…Don’t tell me your hearing has gone too, dammit!”

“Seems like it,” Glenfire sighs, “It’s also getting awful chilly around here…Hate to admit it, but I’m kinda scared…”

“Glen…You…”

“Sike. The mighty Glenfire is never scared. That was a joke…Hehe…” his voice is wispy, like the sound of a flame fizzling out.

“Glen, hang on! Don’t worry, we’ll reunite with the others soon! They’ll get help! They’ll definitely get you fixed up! You’ll be ok! I’ll be ok! We’re all gonna be ok! It’s all gonna be ok!” Zero desperately tries to calm Glen, but most of all himself, his shaking body making every step a challenge.

 “Don’t cry, dumbass…” Glen’s hand reaches out to brush a tear off Zero’s cheek, “Everything’s gonna be just fine…” his strength completely gives out halfway, leaving his palm to dangle limply.

Zero grabs that hand, clenches it with all his might, as though trying to squeeze some of his own life into Glen.

“As soon as I’m all better…” Glen’s voice is growing quieter and airier by the second, “I’m gonna smash your fuckin’ face into the ground as payback for all of those shitty ass jokes you’ve subjected me to…That’s…a…promise…”

His body goes completely limp, the last vestiges of strength fizzling out. Zero’s shaking grip on the back of his legs is no longer sufficient to hold him up, and he slips off the Ultra’s back. Not even the slightest sizzle is heard as his body impacts the ice and snow.

“…Eh? Glen?” feeling the shift in weight, Zero whips around and kneels in front of his fallen friend, cradling his head to his chest.

“Y-you…You’ve just passed out, haven’t you?” he forces out shakily, “HAVEN’T YOU?!”

Something greasy and at the same time chalky is sticking to his fingers. Zero has no time to inspect the mystery substance before, with a quiet rustle, Glen’s chest collapses into itself. His head follows suit, skull caving in. Finally, the neck soundlessly dissolves away, and Zero is left cradling his friend’s mutilated head to his chest.

Flakes of ash...Pieces of Glen…Are slipping through his fingers…

Zero’s screams of Glen’s name are loud enough to echo throughout the stars.

* * *

 

 

 

“Weh?”

Eh? What was that weird squeaky noise?

Something warm is poking the side of his hip. A little red arm, sticking out of the ash pile that used to be Glenfire’s body.

“No way…” frantic, Zero jumps to his feet and plunges his hands into the ash, pulling out the tiny warm creature. Thin limbs, chubby torso and disproportionately large head aside, it looks just like Glen.

“Glen has…”

The tiny elemental hiccups a little fireball.

“REINCARNATED AS A BABY!?”

Babyglen nods vigorously, letting out wehs of affirmation.

But wait…Is there really a reason to celebrate?

If Glen has reverted to this state…Does that mean he’s lost all of his memories from his past life? Hell, even if he were to grow up into an adult form again…Would he even be the same as before? Would he actually be the Glen they all knew and loved?

Zero could not afford to get his hopes up only to have them dashed again. No, that would be way too painful to bear. So until it was one hundred percent clear that the tiny one still possessed Glen’s memories…He would keep on believing Glen to be dead.

The infant slips out of Zero’s hands and nuzzles into his leg, squeaking contently. Zero grits his teeth. Glen’s still dead. He’s gone. He can’t allow himself to start hoping. No matter how much this baby looks like him, he’s better off letting the real Glen go…

The baby lets out a determined “Weh!” and suddenly Zero’s world is flipped upside down.

“This baby…” Zero thinks, “Did he just…”

His head is violently slammed into the ground, and for a moment all he can see is stars.

“…SUPLEX ME!!!!?????”

As Zero lies in the snow with his body flipped upside down, the sharp edges of his sluggers deeply embedded into the ice, Babyglen giggles triumphantly and launches into a painfully familiar victory dance around his victim.

His promise…

He had just fulfilled it, and magnificently so.

“Glen, you bastard…” Zero chokes on a sob, “How dare you scare me like that, you ass cloud!”

He was freezing, stuck upside down and there were probably icicles forming on his forehead. Not to mention he had just gotten his ass kicked by a fucking baby. Still, Zero was the happiest he had been in days.


End file.
